(B-SIDE) you
by kid adult
Summary: "A pretty one," she retorted. "Of course."


A/N: Written for day three (Opposites), day four (Elements), _and_ day five (Genderbent) of Tomadashi week. Except for this one, I decided to twist the "genderbend" prompt into the whole "non-binary" idea instead.

* * *

Mornings. You either liked them or you... well, didn't.

GoGo liked them, under one condition:

There was a voice in the wall from the apartment adjacent to hers. Some days the voice would provide an obscure happy tune, other days a fairly questionable melody. She hadn't entirely kept track, but when she did, she'd add it to her playlist and use it for cleaning the house, going out on a run, singing along to the tracks on their own time in the evening (albeit never quite as well as the stranger's voice). A nice touch to her daily routine, at most.

On this particular morning, however, the voice in the wall wavered. It hadn't occurred to GoGo that the stranger had been crying until they stopped the shower and ran out the room, slamming the door behind them. Though she wanted to know what was going on, GoGo figured it was better to keep out of their business, given she had probably intruded them enough by stealing their songs at every chance she got. But then again, how could she come to that conclusion when she hadn't even talked to this person, let alone met them?

She left it alone, pulling her covers back over her head.

* * *

The voice in the wall returned the next morning, giving no sign that it had trembled at all yesterday. _It never happened_, the voice offered with its usual upbeat tone.

Skeptical, GoGo lingered in her bed. It went on and on, singing something about having wasted time, being glad it's all over now, seeing today as none other than lovely -

_I know this song_, she thought, smiling as the stranger attempted to hit a note out of their range. They casually cleared their throat, unaware of the company they thought they didn't have. She assumed it was because the tenant lived alone, staying quiet and slipping out of her bed until the voice stopped. The silence was interrupted by a faint ringtone on the stranger's side, and, with annoyance, they ignored it, muttering something along the lines of "should've gotten that over with long time ago".

"I don't know why I waste my time getting hung up about the things you say," they sang, "when I open my eyes and it's a lovely day..."

"You know sometimes I feel like I'm... getting snowed under with the things you say," GoGo continued as she picked an outfit from her closet.

"When I open my eyes and it's a lovely day!" the voice finished, momentarily chuckling as they turned off the shower. Only then did they realize that GoGo had sung along with them, dropping their soap and yelling frantically in return. GoGo widened her eyes in horror and dropped her clothes onto the floor, shouting, "Sorry! I didn't mean to -"

"Who are you?" the voice cried.

"I - GoGo. I live here. You know, next door."

There was stumbling, crashing, more slamming. And then, silence.

_What the hell, are they calling the police?_ she wondered as she pulled her T-shirt over her head. GoGo shrugged, almost forgetting the incident had happened. And for a while, she was convinced it didn't after all.

Until someone came rapping on her front door.

* * *

"Hello?" she called, hand clutching onto the doorknob.

_Knock, knock, knock_.

"I'm not opening it until you answer."

"Your next door neighbor," the voice rasped. GoGo tiptoed and peeked out the peephole, almost surprised at what she was seeing. What she thought had been a girl appeared to be... anything but. She opened the door, scanned her neighbor head-to-toe upon first sight. For starters, their hair was short and unkempt, considering they had just gotten out of the shower. The stranger also stood at a surprisingly tall height, body slender and posture unintentionally poised as to give a good first impression (which they somehow would've gotten away with, if GoGo had never heard them sing before). They wore a green cardigan and a black T-shirt of some obscure band, paired with a pair of maroon jeans ending just above the ankle and, to little avail, no shoes.

"Are you aware of how thin the walls are around here?" she inquired, arms crossing as she shifted onto the door frame.

"Sorry, I'm new here. No one complained anyway, so it's not like I could really tell..." the man(?) mumbled. "I'm surprised at how quiet it is around here, now that I think about it." He offered a smile and a hand. "I'm Tadashi."

"GoGo," she said again, returning his handshake. "You've got a nice voice for a guy... That is what you are, right?"

"I - yes?" he answered right away, eyes averting her gaze.

"Why the confusion?"

"I don't know, it's just... no one's ever properly used my pronouns or anything of the sort. They just assume I'm a girl or tomboy based on my voice and my 'effeminate' features. It's kind of why I moved."

"Where are you from?"

"Doesn't matter. So as long as I can avoid the constant prejudice from my old town," Tadashi responded, worry almost entirely gone from his face.

"Come in." GoGo stepped back into her loft and closed the door behind him. "You could share more songs if you've got any."

"GoGo..."

"Hm?"

"Do I really pass for a guy?"

"A pretty one," she retorted. "Of course."

* * *

A/N: "Snowed Under" is a B-side of Keane's "Somewhere Only We Know". I like both songs, and I also like playing around with words.


End file.
